Recessed end containers



eh, 7, 157 R. \IQJOHNSON ETAL 9 RECESSED END CONTAINERS Filed May 20, 1965 INVENTOR Rea/A40 M oW/vso/v EU/E/VE H [5A/ $0iv United States Patent Ofiice 3,3Z,85Z Fatented Feb. 7, 1967 3,302,852 RECESSED END CONTAINERS Ronald V. Johnson, Blooinington, and Eugene H. Isakson, St. Paul, Minn., assignors to Waldorf Paper Products Company, St. Paul, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Filed May 20, 1965. Ser. No. 57,418 1 Claim. (El. 229-39) This invention relates to an improvement in recessed end containers and deals particularly with a structure which may be used for the shipment of books or other objects which require protection against the damaging of the book pages.

During recent years, the use of folders made of corrugated board and similar material for the packaging of books has greatly increased. In many instances, these folders provide, in effect, a sleeve provided at its end with several thicknesses of paperboard which act to prevent the pages of the book from being damaged during shipment. In some instances, such as in US. Patent No. 3,064,875, issued November 20, 1962, to Thomas G. Mairs, the packages are provided with a hollow end structure which actually spaces the ends of the book from the ends of the enclosing packages.

While packages of this type have been used successfully for some time, they comprise, in general, containers which must be closed and sealed by automatic equipment in order to be practical. For example, the containers disclosed in the patent above are held in closed position by adhesive or through the use of gummed tape. While equipment to close and seal such containers is practical where great numbers of books of the same dimensions are shipped, it is not particularly practical where the books are shipped in smaller volume, as in such a case the purchase of such equipment is impractical. It is an object of the present invention to provide a container which may be used to contain books and similar objects, which containers are provided with recessed end structures and in which the closure flaps are merely locked in place, thereby eliminating the necessity for gluing equipment.

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a container having top and bottom wall panels, each of which is provided with a closure structure. The closure structure of one of the two opposed panels includes a spacing flap which is folded to lie in face contact with the inner surf-ace of the panel to which it is hinged, and to the end of which is connected a partition panel. This partition panel is approximately the cross-sectional dimensions of the tubular container so that the partition panel forms an end closure extending at right angles to the surfaces of the container wall panels.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a container of the type described in which the opposite main panel is provided with a second closure structure which includes a second spacing flange which may be folded into face contact with the inner surface of the panel to which it is hinged, and a second partition panel which also is designed to extend into right angular relation to the wall panels and spaced inwardly from the ends of the wall panels. This second partition panel is slightly shorter than the first so as to fill the space between the wall to which the second closure structure is hinged and the first spacer flap.

A further feature of the present invention lies in the provision of a container of the type described above which includes a locking tongue on the end of the second partition panel which is engageable into a slot in the first spacer flap to lock the closure structures in closed position. When thus locked, it is difficult to reopen the container without distorting or breaking the closure structures.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of the specification,

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a container in closed position thereof.

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing one of the end closures in partially closed position.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view through one of the end closures of the container, the position of the section being indicated by the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic view of the blank from which the container is formed.

The folder A comprises a rectangular container which is designed to accommodate an object such as the book B indicated in position in FIGURE 3 of the drawings. As is indicated in FIGURE 4 of the drawings, the container A includes a bottom panel 10, a side Wall panel 11, a top wall panel 12, and a side wall panel 13, which panels are foldably connected along parallel lines of fold 14, 15, and 16. A glue or stitch flap 17 is foldably connected to an end panel of the series, such as side wall 13, by a fold line 19. The stitch flap 17 is designed to overlap the bottom panel 10 and to be secured thereto to connect the wall panels in tubular relation. As will be evident to anyone skilled in the art, the terms bottom wall panel, top wall panel, and side wall panels are merely used to describe the relationship between the panels when the container is positioned as indicated in the drawings.

Similar closure structures 20 are hingedly connected to opposite ends of the top wall panel 12 along parallel lines of fold 21. Each end closure structure includes a spacer flap 22, and a partition panel 23. The spacer flap 22 is connected to the partition panel 23 along a fold line 24, each fold line 24, being parallel to the fold lines 21. A locking tongue 25 projects from the end of the partition panel 23 a distance which is substantially equal to the thickness of the corrugated paperboard from which the container is usually formed.

Closure structures 26 are also connected to opposite ends of the bottom panel 10 along parallel fold lines 27. The closure structures 26 each include a spacer panel 29 connected to the bottom wall 10 along the fold line 27 and a partition panel 3% which is connected to the spacer flap 29 along a fold line 31. The fold lines 31 are parallel to the fold lines 27. Elongated slots 32 are provided in the spacer flaps 29, each of these slots 32 being of proper length and width to accommodate the locking tongue 25. The spacer flaps 29 are of proper length to provide a recessed end of a desired depth. The partition panels 3t which are connected thereto are of a shape and size which approximately equal the cross-sectional shape and size of the tubular container. In other words, the partition walls 30 are of a width to fit snugly between the side walls 11 and 13 and are of proper length to extend from the inner surface of the bottom panel 10 to the inner surface of the top panel 12.

The flap structures 20 are slightly shorter than the flap structures 26 in order to compensate for the thickness of the corrugated paperboard or other material. Each spacer flap 22 is of proper length to extend from the end 21 of the top panel 12 to the end of the adjacent previously folded partition panel 30. Each partition panel 23 is of proper length to extend from the inner surface of the top panel 12 to the adjacent inner or exposed surface of the previously folded spacer flap 29. The locking tongues 25 project sufiiciently beyond the ends of the partition panels 23 to extend into the slots 32, the length of this portion of the partition flaps 23 being substantially somewhat greater than the inside dimension of the side walls.

As indicated in FIGURES 3 and 4, the panel 10 is provided with a pair of crushed areas 33 which provide recesses in the inner surfaces of the panel 10. These recesses are in registry with the slots 32 to increase the distance to which the locking tongues may extend through the slots.

The containers A are normally shipped and stored in flat folded form with the glue fiap 17 overlapping the bottom panel and adhered thereto. When used, the tubular container is squared up. The book or other contents may be inserted either before either of the ends have been closed or after one end has been closed.

The ends of the container are closed by flexing the partition panels 30 into angular relation to the spacer flaps 29 and folding the spacer flaps 29 through an angle of 180 degrees until these flaps are in face contact with the inner surface of the bottom panel 10. The partition panels 30 are folded into right angular relation to the wall panels. When in this position, the carton closure appears as indicated in FIGURE 2 of the drawings. To complete the closure, the partition flaps 23 are folded along the fold line 24 into angular relation with the spacing flaps 22 to which they are hinged, and the spacing flaps 22 are folded inwardly through substantially 180 degrees until they rest in face contact with the inner surface of the top wall 12. The partition panels 23 are pressed inwardly so that these partitions overlie the partition panels 30. The locking tongues 25 snap into the slots -32 to lock the container in closed position.

In accordance with the patent statutes, we have described the principles of construction and operation of our improvement in recessed end containers; while we have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, we desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claim without departing from the spirit of our invention.

We claim:

A book folder and the like comprising:

a generally rectangular, elongated top, bottom, and side wall panels,

means secured to one of said side panels adapted to overlap said bottom panel to connect said panels in tubular relation,

closure flap structure secured to ends of said top and bottom wall panels,

one said closure flap at each end of said tubular structure hinged to a first of said top and bottom panels and including a first spacer flap adapted to fold into face contact with the inner surface of said first panel, and a first partition panel having an area substantially equal to the cross-sectional area of the tubular arranged panels substantially normal to the surfaces thereof and spaced from the ends of said panels, and

a second closure flap structure hinged to the second of said top and bottom panels at each end thereof and including a spacer flap adapted to fold into face contact with the inner surface of said second panel, and a partition panel on the end of said spacer flap and being of a width to fit snugly between said side wall panels and of a length substantially equal to the distance from the inner surface of said second panel to the inner surface of said first spacer flap,

said second partition panel being shorter than said first partition panel and extending across the end of said tubular structure outwardly of, and substantially parallel to, said first partition panel,

cooperable locking means on the end of said second partition panel and said first spacer flap including a tongue on said partition panel and a slot in said first spacer flap adjacent to the line of fold into which said tongue may engage,

the first of said top and bottom panels including a recess in registry with said slot in said first spacer flap when said first spacer flap is in face contact with said first of said top and bottom panels and into which the extremity of said locking tongue may extend,

said recess terminating short of the outer surface of said first of said top and bottom panels,

said tongue being of a length adapted to extend through said slot when said folder is erected and to have its extremity engaged in said recess.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,414,236 4/1922 Walmsley 229-37 2,591,882 4/1952 Shirley 2294O 3,184,145 5/1965 Baker 2294O 3,227,356 1/1966 Eifrid 22937 GEORGE O. RALSTON, Primary Examiner. 

